Hikaru no Bingo
by Patches
Summary: It was generally thought of as a game for old people. Hikaru certainly had no interest in it. But perhaps an ancient ghost could open his mind to the art of playing Bingo.


Hikaru no Bingo  


_Game 1: Temporary Opponent_

"Run, Akari! We're almost at Grandpa's place!"

A sudden downpour had turned a certain Shindo Hikaru's day even more damp. After getting his allowance cut off due to a low score on his history test, the last thing he needed was wet clothes.

"This is why I said we should have gone straight home!" complained Akari as they neared Hikaru's grandfather's house. Hikaru was quite the little punk, and she knew that if she didn't stay with him, he'd just get into more trouble. Hopefully his grandfather would be able to talk some sense into him. Jeez, running around in a rainstorm when he should be home studying. How irresponsible!

"Grandpa, I'm coming in!" shouted Hikaru, opening the door to his grandfather's house. It didn't look like anyone was home. But it didn't seem to matter to Hikaru, since at least this place was dry. Plus, since grandparents were always notorious for giving out little gifts of money to their favorite grandchildren, he probably wouldn't mind if Hikaru took a couple things for himself to alleviate his empty pockets.

Hikaru started raiding an old chest in the attic, while Akari continued to berate him on the wrongness of stealing. Ah, it wasn't stealing if it was from a family member. And old bowling trophy, some moth-eaten trousers, a rubber ducky... none of this was worth anything!

Suddenly, his hand brushed against a deck of large cards. Hey, maybe they were old baseball cards! Those would sure sell for a lot. He yanked them out of the trunk and plopped the dusty set of cards on the floor, noting that they were far too big to be trading cards.

"I know what those are!" exclaimed Akari. "Those are the cards you play Bingo on, right?"

"Bingo's a game for old people," muttered Hikaru, picking up the deck. "And these cards do look pretty old." Well, they were no trading cards, but people tended to pay a lot of money for old stuff, no matter how dumb it was. A little dusting and shuffling and these cards would be as good as new.

"Is it really okay to sell these?" wondered Akari.

"Yeah, Grandpa probably forgot about them," Hikaru assured. "But this stain in the corner of one of the cards won't come off at all."

Akari looked at where he was pointing. "What stain?"

"This one, right here."

"There's nothing on that card, Hikaru. It's clean."

"It's right here!" he said again, pointing forcefully.

"Oh, you can see that?"

"That's what I've been saying!" said Hikaru, frustrated. It took him a second to realize that it was not Akari who had said this.

"You can hear my voice?" the voice came again. Now that was creepy. Hikaru stood up and looked around, thinking his grandpa was playing a trick on him. Nope, just your run-of-the-mill disembodied voice.

"Who's there?" called Hikaru into the darkness. If this was a result of those cookies some kid traded him at lunch...

Meanwhile, Akari was feeling ignored, now that Hikaru was apparently talking to an imaginary person. Well, if he wanted to sell some old Bingo cards and talk to himself, he could do that on his own. This was getting a little too weird, and she didn't want to be seen associating with a psychopath. "I'm going home!" she announced, but it was apparent Hikaru didn't hear her.

"I've finally found one!" the disembodied voice continued. "I give thanks to all the gods! Now I may return to the present life!"

Hikaru was in the process of wondering what the heck that meant when a spirit appeared before him. This spirit was extravagantly dressed in a red flannel shirt, old jeans, and a black visor. But the spirit's face, despite the rugged attire, was soft and gentle.

Even so, this completely freaky combination was more than enough to send Hikaru's consciousness on hiatus.

* * *

Hikaru never noticed himself being loaded into an ambulance. He was off in La-La Land with his new ghost buddy, who had introduced himself as Fujiwarano Sai. Hikaru thought this name really didn't go with the weird outfit the ghost was wearing, so asked him to explain himself.

"I used to teach Bingo to the sovereign at the capital of Heian," Sai explained.

"They played Bingo there?" wondered Hikaru.

"Yes, it is a much more cherished game than you may believe," replied Sai. "Every day, I played Bingo, which caused me great happiness. But there was someone there besides me who taught the sovereign how to play Bingo. One day, he advised the sovereign that one teacher should be enough."

Hikaru sweatdropped in his subconscious. "You need to be _taught_ how to play Bingo?"

Sai ignored his interruption and continued his tragic story. "A match was held, and the one who won would remain as the teacher."

"So what happened?" asked Hikaru. "Isn't Bingo just a game of luck, anyway?"

"There is much more to it than that. We fought, and the match was pretty much even. While everyone's attention was focused on the man calling the numbers, it was only coincidence that I saw it. He had an extra chip in his hand, and at the right moment, that man placed it on his Bingo card as if that number had been called."

"He cheated?" asked Hikaru, becoming only slightly more interested in this tale.

"Yes, and just as I was about to speak, he accused ME of the same thing! The sovereign dismissed the action, not wishing to believe such and act was committed before him. But in the end... I lost. There was such sadness in my heart as I was banished from the capital, framed for cheating. I no longer had a reason to live, so two days later, I threw myself into a river."

Hikaru was thinking that the death thing was pretty cool, but banished the thought when he realized that Sai might be able to hear him.

"But I still wanted to play Bingo!" Sai proclaimed, melodramatically. "Unable to rest in peace, my soul lingered about a set of Bingo cards. I heard the voice of a young boy and asked to settle down in a small place in his heart. With my help, the boy succeeded his master at the game of Bingo at the age of 20. He was awarded the honor of Bingo Master by the great Worldwide Bingo Association. However, at the young age of 34, he fell ill and died."

Hikaru's subconscious wiped the sleepies from his eyes and commented, "So that blood on the Bingo cards was his. And you came to me because you still want to play Bingo."

"Yes," affirmed Sai. "Because I still have not mastered... the Hand of God!"

Hikaru woke up from his hospital bed laughing.

* * *

Hikaru walked into class the next day just in time for another history test. Agh, with the whole Bingo card thing, he'd forgotten about that! Plus, the whole ancient ghost of a Bingo Master thing was probably just a dream. It was too silly to be real, right?

Hikaru had just turned over his test when he heard, "Oh, a history exam?"

"ACK! It's you!" exclaimed Hikaru, jumping out of his chair. The teacher gave him a weird look, and Hikaru shrank back into his seat. That stupid ghost. Apparently this meant that the events of the previous night weren't just a dream. Great, as if he didn't have enough problems already, now he was haunted.

"So, your name was Sai, right?" asked Hikaru mentally to the voice in his head. "And you really love playing Bingo."

"Yes, that's right!" said Sai, excitedly.

Hikaru grinned. "Well, that's too bad, because I think Bingo is a dorky game for old fogies."

It was at this point that Hikaru suddenly felt sick. Oh, that dumb ghost was getting revenge on him now, was he? Hikaru excused himself from class to go upturn his stomach in the bathroom, all the while yelling at Sai.

"What the heck did you do that for?!" he demanded.

"I didn't do anything!" said Sai in his defense. "My sadness of being unable to play Bingo must have seeped into a part of your consciousness."

Hikaru coughed. "Being sad doesn't make you sick! But just so you don't do that again, I give up! I'll let you play Bingo!" Hikaru explained as he walked back to class. "Even so, I have my own plan for life, and it does NOT involve playing Bingo all the time. But, to keep you happy, I guess it's all right to play once in a while."

Sai beamed with happiness. "Yes!"

"And don't talk to me unless I ask you to."

"Okay!" said Sai, annoyingly perkily. Jeez, this guy needed a life. Oh, wait, he was dead.

Well, at least that quelled one problem. But Hikaru still had this history test in front of him, and it was a real stumper. "Man, who was that? I can never remember names. Sai, do you know who's buried in Grant's Tomb?"

"Grant?" wondered Sai, having never heard of the person.

"Yes, yes, that's right!" exclaimed Hikaru, writing down the answer. "And what did Geronimo yell when he jumped off a cliff?"

"Geronimo?" Sai repeated, also never having heard of this person.

"Great! Thanks!" said Hikaru, also filling in the answer. "Wow, Sai, you really are useful for something! When I'm done with this test, I'll take you someplace where you can play Bingo."

* * *

"So where do we go to play Bingo? Where do we go?" asked Sai incessantly, like a dog waiting for a stick to be thrown.

"The church," replied Hikaru. "They're always playing Bingo there during the after-hours. I think Grandpa goes there sometimes, too."

"Ah, no matter what era it is, there are people who love Bingo!"

Hikaru sweatdropped and opened the door to the church. He really hoped that Sai wouldn't be hanging around him for the rest of his life, or else he'd kill himself. Maybe that's why that one other guy only lived to be 34...

Hikaru looked into the church and noted that, just as he thought, there were only old men there. It smelled like a retirement home. "Is this your first time here?" asked the receptionist.

Hikaru continued looking at all the old guys. "Not just here, this is the first time I've played in my life. I mean, I've never played against anyone before, but I think I'm pretty good." Or, rather, he assumed that Sai was pretty good. He'd better be, with the way he ranted on about Bingo.

He continued looking around the room and noted a boy his age seated at a table by himself. "Hey, there's a kid there! Could I play against him?" asked Hikaru.

"Well, sure, but that kid is..." began the receptionist.

The aforementioned kid walked up to Hikaru and said, "It's okay, I'll play him." He showed Hikaru to the back of the room and seated him in front of a set of three blank Bingo cards.

"My name is Touya Akira. What's yours?" asked the boy.

"Shindo Hikaru," Hikaru replied. "I'm in 6th grade."

"As am I," said Akira.

Hikaru grinned. "That's great! It's no fun playing with old fogies, anyway."

"So, how much experience do you have?" wondered Akira.

"Dunno," said Hikaru, sheepishly. "But I think I'll do all right."

Akira handed him a pile of Bingo chips and said, "Well, in any case, why don't you start by designating two squares on each of your three cards as a Free Space."

"Free Space? A handicap? There's no need for that, since you and I are the same age!"

Akira smiled. "In that case, why don't you begin filling out numbers on your Bingo cards? We use fifteen numbers per letter here. B goes from 1 to 15, I 16 to 30, and so on. Choose numbers within each of those ranges and write them on your cards."

"Okay," said Hikaru, picking up a pen. "But don't rush me. I might be a little slow filling them in."

Hikaru felt tears falling on his head. He looked up and saw Sai crying with happiness. Well, whatever floated his boat, it didn't matter. At least with Sai on his side, Hikaru was sure to win.

"Hikaru, let's start!" commanded Sai, once he was done bawling. "B-13, second square from the top, first card!"

Hikaru looked at his card and found the "B" column. Second square... aha, found it! He proceeded to write the number 13 in the box.

"N-38, middle square, third card!"

"N-38, middle square..." Hikaru thought to himself, locating the correct box and labelling it "38".

"0-74, lower right corner, second card!" Sai instructed. This continued until Hikaru had all 25 squares on each of his three Bingo cards filled in with numbers. In the meantime, Akira had fallen asleep due to Hikaru taking about an hour to fill in his cards. When he'd said he'd be slow, he sure meant it. This game better be worth it.

"Are you ready yet?" Akira asked, yawning.

"Yup!" said Hikaru, putting his pen down. "Ready when you are!"

Akira regained his pleasant demeanor and cranked the Bingo roller to his side until a ball with a number on it popped out. Akira picked it up and read off, "I-27," then placed the ball on the board beside them for them both to see.

Hikaru looked at his Bingo cards. "I-27, I-27, oh, hey, I've got that one!" he said, plopping a Bingo chip on the number.

Akira was somewhat taken aback by this. "His hand movements are completely those of an amateur!" He then plucked up his own Bingo chip daintily between his index and middle fingers and placed it on his own I-27.

Hikaru cranked the roller the next time, and produced B-11. Both found this number on their cards, and continued.

"G-58," said Akira, placing a chip on that number.

Hikaru looked over his cards. "Hey, I don't have that one! Sai, is that okay?"

"Yes," replied Sai. "It will be to your advantage later on."

Hikaru sulked. "How do you figure?"

The game continued for a dozen or so more balls, each filling in their Bingo cards and coming much closer to completing a full line of chips across the card. Hikaru pulled out N-38, and was about to place a chip when Sai stopped him. "It is not necessary. Leave it." Hikaru hesitated, then left his N-38 square empty.

Akira noticed this move, and was shocked. "This isn't the best move! It's also not the strongest move! It's a move to test how I would play! He's measuring my abilities! From someplace high above?" What was this presence he felt around the Bingo game today?

* * *

The game concluded, and Hikaru trotted out the door, thanking the receptionist on the way out.

"Oh," she said, stopping him momentarily. "There's a children's Bingo tournament coming up. Maybe you'd like to go watch." She handed him a flyer.

Hikaru scratched his head. "Oh, uh, whatever," he said, taking it. "Thanks, though." He hurried out the door, hoping that no one would see him hanging around such a place.

Suddenly there was a ruckus from the old men in the back. "Akira lost? How is that possible? His skill is almost that of a pro's!"

The receptionist ran into the back and parted the crowd of old men. "Wait, is this true? Akira lost? But, that kid said he'd never played against anyone until today!"

Akira looked up, bewildered. "Never... played... against... anyone?" He clenched his fists. "What the heck kind of kid is he?"

* * *

Hikaru wandered home, yawning. "Man, I'm not used to doing stuff like that, and it's made me tired." He turned around to Sai. "So, are you content now?"

"Yes!" said Sai, cheerily.

"All right. But in return," said Hikaru, turning back down the road, "you're helping me with my history homework when we get home."

"Ask me whatever you want!" said Sai, although he wasn't terribly knowledgeable about what Hikaru had asked him. At least it would make him happy.

* * *

**GO GO BINGO!**

  


Now we will learn how to play Bingo!

First, you have your Bingo cards and Bingo chips. Many Bingo cards come already filled in with numbers, but some are blank so you can choose your own. In "Hikaru no Bingo", they play with blank cards, so let's use that as an example. First choose your numbers.

B I N G O  
|_|_|_|_|_|  
|1|1|1|1|1|  
|_|_|_|_|_|  
|_|_|_|_|_|  
|_|_|_|_|_|

Hm, well, this is no good. Each number on a Bingo card must be different. Let's try again next time with different numbers.

To be continued...


End file.
